3ds Max Render Job Sanity Check

• 1 3ds Max Render Job Sanity Check
  • 1.1 The Error Report:
  • 1.2 Repairing Errors:
  • 1.3 Updating the Error Report:
  • 1.4 Using The Sanity Check

The 3dsmax Command Sanity Check script defines a set of functions to be called to ensure that the scene submission does not contain typical errors like wrong render view and frame range settings, incorrect output path, etc.

The Sanity Check is enabled by the Run Sanity Check Automatically Before Submission checkbox in the User Options group of controls in the Submit To Deadline (3dsmaxCmd) dialog. You can also run the Sanity Check automatically by clicking the Run Now! button.

The dialog contains the following elements:

• The upper area (Error Report) lists the problems found in the current scene.
• The lower area (Feedback Messages) lists the actions the Sanity Check performs and gives feedback to the user. The latest message is always on top.
• Between the two areas, there is a summary text line listing the total number of errors and a color indicator of the current Sanity Check state. When red, the Sanity Check will not allow a job sumbission to be performed.

The Error Report:

The left column of the Error Report displays a checkbox and the type of the error. The checkbox determines whether the error will be taken into account by the final result of the check. Currently, there are 3 types of errors:

• FATAL: The error cannot be fixed automatically and requires manual changes to the scene itself. A job submission with such error would be pointless. The state of the checkbox is ignored and assumed always checked.
• Can Be Fixed: The error can be fixed automatically or manually. If the checkbox is active, the error contributes to the final result. If unchecked, the error is ignored and handled as a warning.
• Warning: The problem might not require fixing, but could be of importance to the user. It is not taken into account by the final result (the state of the checkbox is ignored and assumed always unchecked).

Repairing Errors:

In 3ds Max 8 and earlier: Double-clicking an Error Message in the Error Report window will cause an associated repair function to be executed and/or a Report Message to be output in the Feedback Messages window.

In 3ds Max 9 and higher: Right-clicking an Error Message in the Error Report window will cause an associated repair function to be executed and/or a Report Message to be output in the Feedback Messages window. This difference was caused by the switch to DotNet controls which handle double-clicks as checked events, changing the checkbox state in front of the error instead.

Updating the Error Report:

You can rerun/update the Sanity Check in one of the following ways:

• Clicking the dialog anywhere outside of the two message areas will rerun the Sanity Check and update all messages.
• Double-clicking any Message in the Feedback Messages window will rerun the Sanity Check and update all messages.
• Reparing an error by double-clicking will also automatically rerun the Sanity Check
• Pressing the Run Now! button in the Submit To Deadline dialog will update the Sanity Check.

The following Sanity Checks have been implemented in the current version:

Type	Message	Description	Fix
FATAL	The scene does not contain ANY objects!	The scene is empty and should not be sent to Deadline.	Load a valid scene or create/merge objects, then try again.
Can Be Fixed	The current Scene Name is Untitled.	The scene has never been saved to a MAX file. While it is possible to submit an untitled scene to Deadline, it is not a good practice.	Double-click the error message to open a Save As dialog and save to disk.
Can Be Fixed	The current view is NOT a Camera.	The active viewport is not a camera viewport.	Double-click the error message to open a Select By Name dialog to pick a camera for the current viewport.
Can Be Fixed	The current Camera has NO MultiPass Motion Blur	The active viewport is a camera, but the camera has no MultiPass Motion Blur enabled. NOTE that this check is performed for Default Scanline Renderer and Brazil only, as Mental Ray, Entropy, Renderman and VRay usually do not require MultiPass Motion Blur	Double-click the error message to enabled MultiPass Motion Blur in the current camera.
Can Be Fixed	The current Camera's MultiPass Motion Blur Duration is NOT 0.5!	By default, the MPass MBlur Duration value is 1.0. At Frantic Films though, the default value is 0.5.	Double-click the error message to set the MultiPass Motion Blur Duration of the current camera to 0.5
Can Be Fixed	The Render Time Output is set to SINGLE FRAME!	While it is ok to send a single frame to Deadline, users are sending animations 99% of the cases.	Double-click the error message to set the Render Time Output to "Active Time Segment:. The Render Dialog will open so you can check the options and set to Range or Frames instead.
Can Be Fixed	The Render Output Path appears to point at a LOCAL DRIVE!	While it is technically possible to save locally on each Slave, this is a bad idea - all Slaves should write their output to a cental location on the network. Currently, disks C:, D: and E: are considered local and will be tested agains the output path.	Double-click the error message to open the Render Dialog and select a valid path, then double-click again to retest.
Can Be Fixed	The Render Output File Name ends with a DIGIT - trailing numbers might fail.	The Name to be saved to ends with one, two or three digits. Rendering to this file name will append 4 more digits and make loading sequential files in other applications hard or impossible. This check is performed only when the type is not AVI or MOV and will ignore 4 trailing digits which will be replaced by 3dsmax correctly when rendering to sequential files.	Double-click the error message to add an underscore _ to the end of the file name, for example z:\temp\test123.tga will be changed to z:\temp\test123_.tga
Warning	The Render Output Path is NOT DEFINED!	No frames will be saved to disk. This is allowed if you want to output render elements only.	Double-click the error message to open the Render Dialog and select a valid path, then double-click again to retest.
Warning	The Render Output is set to a MOVIE format.	The file extension is set to an AVI or MOV format. In the current version of Deadline, this would result a sequence of single frame MOV files rendered by separate slaves. In the future, the behaviour might be changed to render a single MOV or AVI file on a single slave as one Task.	Double-click the error message to open the Render Dialog and select a single frame output format, then double-click again to retest.

This list will be extended to include future checks and can be edited by 3rd parties by adding new definitions and functions to the original script. Documentation on extending the script will be published later.

Please email suggestions for enhancements and additional test cases to Deadline Support.

Using The Sanity Check

To run a Sanity Check, either press the Run Now! button in the submission dialog, or press the SUBMIT button with the Run Sanity Check Automatically Before Submission option checked.

If there are no errors to report, the Sanity Check dialog will not open at all, and in the latter case the submission will be performed immediately. If there are any errors to report, the Sanity Check dialog will open. If the status of the Sanity Check is RED and a submission has been requested, no submission will be performed. If the status of the Sanity Check is GREEN (no "FATAL" errors, only Warnings and/or unchecked "Can Be Fixed" errors) and a submission has been requested, the submission will be performed immediately.

It is a good practice to use the Run Now! button to perform an independent Sanity Check without job submission. If there are errors reported, you can fix the "FATAL" errors, and some of the "Can Be Fixed" errors:

If the state of the Sanity Check is still RED, but some of the "Can Be Fixed" errors do not appear to be relevant to your current job, you can uncheck them to quickly pass the tests without fixing - the state of the Sanity Check will turn GREEN:

Pressing the SUBMIT button with a GREEN state of the Sanity Check will ignore all unchecked "Can Be Fixed" errors and all Warnings and will perform the job submission as expected.

Closing the Sanity Check dialog after turning the state to GREEN but before submitting a job does NOT change the state of the checkboxes and will also result in successful submission. The dialog will reopen before the submission and will appear the same as before closing.

Note: Another quick way to ignore all errors is to uncheck the Run Sanity Check Automatically Before Submission option in submission dialog. This will bypass the Sanity Check function completely, so it should be done only when there are no FATAL errors. Otherwise, the job will probably fail.